


Let Me Be Your Gravity

by RisuAlto



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Canon-Typical Hallucinations, Canon-Typical Violence, Deadfire, F/F, Flashbacks, Magic, No Spoilers, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 17:36:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21480229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RisuAlto/pseuds/RisuAlto
Summary: One foot in front of the other.  Even if all she could do was shuffle forward like a damn gul.
Relationships: The Watcher/Xoti (Pillars of Eternity)
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1548286
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Let Me Be Your Gravity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [serenbach86 (serenbach)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenbach/gifts).

> This prompt was, "Stumbling and staggering," for the Bad Things Happen Bingo.
> 
> Title is from ["Gravity"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxfQn7riJxo) by Hovig.

The other cipher had snuck up on her, and all Lila could think as the pain hit was, _I’ve gone soft._ Never mind the fact that her few short months in Caed Nua had been rife with bandit trouble and local rebellions—it was all she could think of to explain why it hurt so _fucking_ badly. 

Her head was pounding like Abydon’s hammer was trying to drown the Eyeless inside of her. Every clash of steel from the battle around her—ally and foe alike—rang out with the vicious discord of steel on slate, bells shattering, armor rending into a thousand pieces, the shrieking of those souls Eothas ripped from her domain. 

It was like she was back there again, struggling to run when the very ground underneath her was trying to drag her down. She could feel herself sliding. Maybe this was something like what they always said being on fire was like.

Lila clenched a fist only to realize she’d dropped her weapon in the confusion. She was wide open. Surely, she’d been hit by now. But beyond the vortex in her head, she couldn’t feel anything.

Someone had to stop that cipher, and clearly none of her so-called “allies” were going to manage it. Lila wasn’t sure if they just hadn’t noticed she’d been hit or if they didn’t care, but either way, she wouldn’t get knocked out by something like this. Stronger ciphers had stunned her before, and she’d gotten out fine. This was no different. Just put one foot in front of the other. If she couldn’t grab her weapon, she’d rip that damn cipher’s head from their shoulders with her bare hands. All that was left was to close the distance.

One foot in front of the other. Even if all she could do was shuffle forward like a damn gul.

Lila’s foot moved, and her weight slid with it, too-much-too-fast, dragging her forward faster than her limp legs could catch her. A curse tore its way up through her throat, but her lips only managed a single, harsh vowel sound, and it rattled her skull on its way out. The screams in her head echoed sympathetically, bouncing off every bone they could find as she pitched over.

“Watcher!”

Something hit her square in the breastplate. Lila blinked her eyes back open and was immediately assaulted with the dark glow of a spell circle. She grit her teeth against it, but as the ground around her feet flashed violet, the sounds in her head drained away. Her limbs steadied themselves, and her senses came back to her. The creaking wood beneath her greaves, the smell of candle wax, the deep forest green of Xoti’s cloak in front of her—

“Get ‘er, Watcher!” Xoti cried, shoving Lila away again (and later, Lila would wonder how the small human girl managed to hold all her weight and still cast a spell like that). Lila wasn’t sure everything happening in the fight at the moment, but she knew enough—Xoti had thrown her towards that _bitch_, and she sure as Hel wouldn’t waste this chance.

Two could play mind games in this fight after all. A growl escaped Lila’s lips as her own Soul Whip lit up like a beacon.

(In the corner of her eye, for just a second, she’d almost swear she caught Xoti smiling as she crippled the other cipher, igniting her soul like that damn lantern. This one didn’t have a priest to catch her.)

**Author's Note:**

> Cipher powers are fun :D
> 
> Brownie points to anyone who can guess the abilities that Lila got hit with and that Xoti used to help her.


End file.
